In the jumble of other news items, the climate meeting that U.S. President Joe Biden attended in Scotland was worth noting. Beyond the social media attention, given to whether President Biden caught a nap during the presentations on what the world is doing to deal with to fix the problem…there were a couple of items that could be real things to watch. In reading one news account we were able to obtain a link for a report that the U.S. government was releasing to be a major announcement. That 65-page report is entitled “The Long-Term Strategy of the United States – Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050.”
Included in the document and also brought forward as an action item that several countries signed an agreement for, during the conference, methane gas (CH4) was identified as a priority item that will be getting more attention. This mention and attention rippled out to provide platform points on how agriculture is going to be looped into the vortex of government-inspired activities for addressing methane emissions.
According to the Biden Administration’s “Long-Term Strategy,” Non-Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Green House Gas emissions make up 20 percent of the U.S. contributions to global warming. Of these releases, (methane (CH4), nitrous oxides (N2O), and fluorinated gases (including HFCs), agricultural production factors in on two major areas – methane and nitrous oxides. Methane is modeled to be 51 percent of the U.S.’s non-CO2 Green House Gas emissions and Nitrous oxide is said to be 35 percent.
The major sources for methane emission include energy production, livestock, “waste” (land fill gas releases and other. The two identified sources for nitrous oxide are “soil management” and “other”.
Examining the “Key Abatement Opportunities” in the Biden Administration’s “Long-Term Strategy,” states – “Technical potential includes technologies like anaerobic digestion of manure in the agricultural sector and leakage detection and mitigation in the oil and gas sector.” Guess what is included in the revamped $1.75 trillion, proposed 2022 fiscal year Biden Administration’s “Build Back Better” budget … extra government money to work with livestock producers to build digesters for capturing methane emissions from manure -- to identify at least one of the great things in the budget bill that they can’t quite get enough votes to pass. Beyond just mention of methane and manure management opportunities found in the flow of the forthcoming federal dollars -- the $1.75 trillion also has more than $22 billion in new spending for conservation programs.
At this point, the news accounts that we have been following report that while the Biden Administration is in the process of drafting regulations for the oil and gas industry (seeking to reduce methane emissions through this means) – administration officials maintain that they plan to work with agricultural producers on a voluntary basis. This would come in the form of incentives and assistance for implementing “climate smart” agricultural practices.
We would be happy to email you a digital copy of “The Long-Term Strategy of the United States – Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050” -- just send an email request to doug@nvfb.org
